


Drabble: Forever

by selynne



Category: The Secret of the Unicorn Queen - Josepha Sherman
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Drabble, F/M, Originally Posted on LiveJournal, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-08-31
Updated: 2007-08-31
Packaged: 2019-03-08 01:26:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13447581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/selynne/pseuds/selynne
Summary: Drabble challenge: "Forever" in 500 words or less. First posted (years ago) to the SUQ Community on Livejournal.





	Drabble: Forever

He had pushed her out of the way.

He had pushed her out of the way, and this was not supposed to be happening.

Sheila gasped his name, her voice broken and splintered. There was blood everywhere, warm and slick, but she ignored it as she clutched his hand, stroked his face, tried desperately to get a reaction. She was vaguely aware of someone chanting the word "no" over and over again in a high, frantic, pain-filled voice.

She had no idea it was her own.

She was not supposed to be holding him like this, his head pillowed in her lap while his life's blood stained her clothing and spilled onto the ground in a horrible, swelling red pool in the firelight. Gasping for air, she forced herself not to panic, not to scream, to swallow back the sobs before they could escape and consume her.

Her reflexes were slower, with the baby coming, and he had seen or heard the oncoming arrow - she wasn't sure which - and pushed her aside at the very last minute. She had no idea where the shot had come from. She didn't even care. There was a flurry of activity all around them now, voices shouting, hands reaching, and she didn't listen, didn't respond, didn't even bother looking up.

Her husband lay dying in her arms, their unborn child shifting awkwardly between them, and this could not be happening.

Not now, and not like this.

She was supposed to come back to him, and she had. They were supposed to be together again, and they were. They had married, sworn their hearts and lives and love to each other, and for two years now, despite the war, despite the everyday dangers of living on this world, they had been together. They had been happy, and it was supposed to last forever. They were supposed to grow old together, surrounded by friends and family and magic. That was how it was always meant to be.

Sheila cradled Darian's head against her stomach, hot tears running down her face and falling silently into his hair. She clutched him closer, desperate to hold on for as long as possible while she shook her own head in furious, hopeless, dizzying denial.

Forever, it seemed, was about to run out.


End file.
